The resonating boom of dozens of tuba family instruments will make this season very merry and bright when Tuba Christmas presents its ninth annual concert.

The music will start at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Oak Street Plaza in downtown Fort Collins. Every year the event is directed by Loveland Mayor Cecil Gutierrez, who has held the reigns of this Christmas sleigh ride since the Fort Collins chapter started in 2005.

"What makes this such a fun event is the age spread," Gutierrez said. "Last year our youngest was 11 and our oldest was 81. We also have families who come and play together. When I first started, my granddaughter was playing euphonium in her school band, so those first few years she was able to come up and join me. I have former students and students I have know from other bands and schools, so everyone gets to know everybody."

The program is comprised of a selection of traditional Christmas music, all orchestrated for tubas and euphoniums playing in four-part harmony.

"It is awesome, because I am a euphonium player myself," Gutierrez said. "The tubas and euphoniums rarely get to be the highlight. The sound is just unique."

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Tuba Christmas is an international organization with events that happen all season long across the world. Denver and Cheyenne also host these musical gatherings, but when Loveland resident Millie Oliver became frustrated with the long snowy commutes to these events, she decided to pursue a local Tuba Christmas charter.

Oliver played the baritone in high school but gave up when she started nursing school at the University of Minnesota. Flash forward several years, and Oliver found herself looking for a used baritone on eBay and then began playing with the New Horizons band in Northern Colorado. Once her playing chops were back in shape, Oliver's friend Judy Vanderslice invited her to make the trek up to Cheyenne for Tuba Christmas.

"Her husband drove us in their van in a driving blizzard," Oliver said. "We were going through a whiteout, and I didn't think we would make it. It was a very frightening drive. So we get up there and find the location and take part in the practice. But the director wouldn't even speak to us because were from Colorado. So then I thought, hey, what is wrong with having one in Fort Collins?"

So she got a charter in 2005 and the first Tuba Christmas was held, although Oliver had no plans to keep running the events.

"The first year was very successful, so she put together a committee that could take over the annual coordination," Loveland resident James Schafer said. "We said to Millie 'Thank you for getting it started -- if you want to hand the baton off, we will take the baton.'"

Every year the event grows in popularity, attracting more players and larger audiences, Schafer said.

For those interested in playing for the event, Schafer suggested that all players have at least a year of experience in playing a tuba family instrument. Registration begins the day of the event at 9-10 a.m. at Community of Christ Church in Fort Collins, followed by rehearsal from 10 a.m.-noon. and a complimentary lunch for all performers. The cost to participate is $10. All players should bring their instrument, a music stand, a mouthpiece, the "Tuba Christmas Music Book" (available for purchase for $25), and appropriate cold weather clothing.